Drip, Drip, Drip. The lava still dripping slowly from the tiniest crack in the cave roof, over years and years it has only burnt a one-inch dent in the rocks. It dropped on my boot. “Ow, what was that? Still barely warm lava? Looks like it’s about to grow cold to stone.” I said. “Hee Hee Hee! Must be!” A strange voice said as I struck my supposedly ‘legendary sword’ on a rock, hoping sparks would fly so I could see more than red glowing eyes, “What is that puny sword, can you even call it a sword? It’s just a stick with a sharp rock on it to me!” I spoke back, “I-It’s Le-Legen-Legendary!” His words struck again, “Legendary!? HAHAHAHA! That’s a good one! It’s just some rip-off of the ‘hero’s sword’ in all the fairy tales! It’s weaker that a stick to me! JUST TRY! BWA-HA-HA-HA!” A long, black tentacle slithered from the darkness. Then a red one, and a purple one. All three colors of tentacles reached out, and more came, then the two red glowing eyes disappeared for a moment and came back as one giant yellow eye with a dark, purple pupil. “I’m stronger than you!” I said, stumbling with the ‘fake’ sword, “I’M NOT AFRAID- wait a sec, nevermind, I’m terrified, see ya’ later!” I ran as fast as I could, but it seemed as if I was running on a treadmill, I wasn’t going anywhere.

I slashed at the darkness with my sword, but it just snapped in half and burned before my eyes, it had been destroyed. What am I going to do now? I just kept running. “You can’t escape! BWA-HA-HA-HA! You brought yourself into this! Now you’re picking fights with monsters twenty times your size!” The voice said. “Monsters? Do you mean monster? Oh, there are more of you!” I said.

I couldn’t believe my mind. Was I going crazy? Here goes nothing! I walked forward without a care in the world. Looks like this was going to take awhile. I made a note in a leather book I used for notes, It was something like: Tentacle Cyclops Monster in Lethardian Caves. Finally, I found a hole in the roof, yet I couldn’t get up there. I thought I was going to sit in that cave forever, but no.

A large tentacle slithered around me and threw me up through the whole. I was finally back in Lethardia! But something was different, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. I finally noticed it was the giant floating castle in the dark clouds that I probably should have noticed a while ago. I just headed on the path of gravel in front of me, and decided that I should head to that castle as soon as I get a real sword.

I found a shop selling wooden swords. No thank you, I needed a real sword. I kept walking and eventually found a village, so I headed in, and an old lady asked me if I wanted to stay at her house for a bit. I said yes. “Is there a any place where I could find a sword?” I asked, “A really powerful one.”

“Yes,” She explained, “There is a legend that deep in the Lethardian forests, there is a sword hidden in a dungeon full of monsters.”

“Where can I get a weapon to attack the monsters?” I questioned.

“At the blacksmith’s market to the left of my house.” she told me. I headed out the door, and headed left, then I saw a blacksmith with a sturdy anvil and hammer next to him. There were a few weapons and tools hanging on the wall. I pointed at a sword, “How much does that cost?”

“It’s free!” he said, so I took it off the wall, and was headed on my way. I turned around and grabbed a wooden and iron shield from his collection.

I was headed to the forest, quickly. Now, where was that dungeon? It turned out the answer was right in front of me, literally. Yep, I was standing right in front of it. I couldn’t help myself but to walk into the mossy ruins. It had stairs that went underground. Great, more underground, I’d already had it with the caves, now a dungeon guaranteed to have monsters? The first thing I knew, I was face to face with a skeleton. He had an old stone sword and his skull was cracked, so he was easy to defeat, however I didn’t know what could possibly come next.

Here I was, just staring at the sword. I knew it was a trap, but as if in a trance, I just walked up and tried to grab the powerful sword that had been held by vines. “What a stupid idea! You’ve got to be stupidly kidding me! You actually stupidly fell for that? HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! How could anybody be so stupidly stupid!” A strange voice said. He really overused the word ‘stupid’ but I didn’t point that out. “Quick question; why are you an abominable plant monster who is way bigger than the tentacle cyclops thing in the cave but you seem less powerful even though you’re guarding an awesome sword? ...Nevermind.” I asked the monster, who looked at me with squinted eyes and this disappointed look. “Dude, you’re making this weird. It’s supposed to be like, a big battle or something that’s really epic, so make it seem like that.” He said, still looking at me in disappointment. I slashed my new sword at a vine, and it didn’t break. I threw it at his eyes and my sword stabbed one. He shrivelled up like a dead plant and died, so I picked up the sword that was still mossy a bit.

I was out of the dungeon. Now I needed to head to the castle.

~~CHAPTER 2~~

=The Castle, kind of=

I was headed for the castle. I didn’t know what was in there, but I was headed there. “Gee,” I muttered to myself, “Sure is cold out here.” I kept walking until I noticed something. I needed armor. I headed back to the village, and asked the old lady where I could find armor. She answered, “There is a legendary suit of armor-” “Where is it?” I asked, “Where is the armor?” The lady answered again, “Right here, in this chest.” I took the armor and put it on myself. It was a bit heavy, but I wasn’t about to be picky. It was kind of strange that ‘legendary’ armor was legitimately in a chest in an old lady’s house. I headed back out the door and into the fields of Lethardia, and started going to the castle. I was finally there, it had been awhile since I left the old lady’s house, so I didn’t hesitate to run inside. It was a bit quiet at first, but as soon as I stepped, I heard a loud screeching noise and was thrown against the wall by a gigantic boulder. I trident was thrown towards me but I jumped to the side and it hit the stone brick wall. I slashed my sword at a giant hand that slammed against the ground, but my mind was caught in a trance, and I seemed to be fading out of the world, into a void, just floating. . .

~~CHAPTER 3~~

=The Void=

I wasn’t going anywhere, just floating. I suddenly felt myself get hit by something big, and I was back in the castle. Well, for a little bit. I finally managed to distract the giant by throwing part of my old sword, but it wasn’t over. More came and started stomp-running towards me, so I ran as fast as I could until I was back in the void, but this time I didn’t shut off my brain. I could see a castle in the distance, and I thought I could remember something about ‘The Void Kingdom’ that I had been told about in a legend, but I couldn’t keep that in my mind, neither could I keep my physical form. I was turning into a spirit, with a flaming sword of vengeance, and warrior’s armor that was quaking with rage. The Void Kingdom was evil, with a king that had a soul of no other, it was too hateful. I floated towards the kingdom and the drawbridge automatically opened, to my surprise. I walked in and took a few steps in the incorporeal castle and noticed it was safe to that point, but as soon as I took another step. . .

~~CHAPTER 4~~

=The Void Kingdom=

. . . (Wait for it. . .) . . . BOOM! A hammer slammed on the ground next to me and I jumped back. Then a sword swung at my head, so I moved and swung my sword at the knight who had tried to kill me. Darn, this kingdom really was evil, that was a point proved. I didn’t know where to go, so I just kept walking forward, just walking, and walking, and walking, and- before I knew it, I was face to face with the ‘Void King’ I had heard of.

His soul-capturing sword lay in his hands, as I stared at him in, well, not really horror, but kind of amazement. His sword, (as I’ve heard) can capture people’s souls, and it grows more powerful with each one it captured, therefore if anyone possesses it, they’re pretty powerful. Oh, how was I gonna beat him? Here goes nothing. “Well, well, well, what have we here?” He said in that same stupid way that every villain does, “Looks like another fool has come to try and kill me.” I held up my sword, staring at him, “I’m not as bad as you think I am, also I didn’t mean ta’ come in here, but what gives.” He jumps out of his chair and quickly slashes his sword at my face, so I dodge and hit his sword out of his hand. “WH-WHAT!? WHAT THE- HOW’D YOU HIT THE SWORD OUTTA MY HAND!?” He shouts at me, and I suppose that it’s an invitation for me to throw his sword at him, and it went right through his head, and he faded away like a ghost. An arrow shot by, but I moved. Somebody jumped at me with a spear, and I used my sword to split the spear, even the stone at the end, directly in have. The person toppled onto me and started wrestling me, but I punched them in the face and they were knocked out.

~~CHAPTER 5~~

=The Teleportation Story=

There were more of them, and I knocked out all but one. I interrogated him, “Why am I teleporting to random places? First the Void Kingdom, then this desert, WHY?” He seemed to be choking, so I loosened my grip on his neck, “You-You’ve been teleporting because of the Teleportation Crystal!” I question him more. “Where is it?” I asked. He replied again, “In the castle- the one with the dark clouds.” I stare into the sky and then look back down at him. “Alright.” I tell him. He seems grateful, but then he swings a spiked mace at me, so I hit his hand with the hilt of Void Sword, and he drops his weapon, “Yeah, shouldn’t have trusted ya’ with that.” I say, and then knock him out. I headed back to the castle. Finally, I was back at the castle, but there were guards at the entrance. “Can I come in?” I asked them. One of them responded, “Nein, Sie müssen sterben!” I supposed that meant this was a bad idea to ask politely, because one of them threw a javelin at me. “Dies ist Ihre Zeit zu sterben!” one of the guards said. I think they were speaking German. “I slashed my sword and it hit both of them, then their helmets clanked against their heads and knocked them out. The Void Sword was really working out for me, that was certain. I walked up the stairs, kept walking, and found a gigantic crystal. It was the Teleportation Crystal.

It turned into a gigantic crystal monster, and then one big glowing green eye appeared and a terrifying mouth broke out with razor sharp teeth, and then it roared. I swung my sword sword and successfully cut off one of it’s hands. It seemed that if I hit it’s eye, it’s body weakens for a moment. I slashed my sword at it’s hand again, but it had gained back it’s strength. I tried climbing up one of the stonebrick walls, and apparently there were wooden platforms, so I got on one. Bulls-eye! I jumped off the platform, shot it in the eye again, and sliced off it’s arm. It tried smashing me with it’s fist, but I moved, and shot it in the eye again. Hopefully the crystal monster would die soon enough. I chopped off it’s other arm, climbed up the side of it, and stabbed it in the eye. “GRAAAAAAAGH!” The monster screamed, “NOOOOOOOOO!”

~~FINAL CHAPTER~~

=The Final Battle=

This wasn’t happening without a fight. He smashed his fist against the ground, and I tried to attack him with my sword, but I just got hit back and fell on the ground. There were torches on the walls, big ones. I shot at a torch, and it exploded. Weird. I shot at one next to the crystal monster, and it broke part of the crystal. A giant crystal fist smashed me against the ground, and I tried to use my sword and hit it to get out. It wasn’t working. What was I gonna do? I found an answer. I shot it in the eye. It was stunned again, so I use the Void Sword like an iron sledgehammer or something, and smashed it against it’s eye. Crystals flung everywhere as the indescribable horror exploded, and I ran as fast as I could out of the castle, but the guards were still there. “Nach rechts stoppen!” they shouted. I knocked one over onto the other and then ran away as the castle behind me exploded. I spotted the village again, went there, and bought a home. “So, I guess you kinda destroyed the evil kingdom, Kyle.” said my friend, Helmut. “Yep.” I said. And we lived happily ever after- except for me, Kyle Zedenski, who still wondered what the one-eyed tentacle monster in the caves is.

The End... ...Wait a sec, no it’s not!

I just had to go back and figure out what that thing in the caves was, now that I had the Void Sword! I grabbed some rope and rushed back to the hole that I escaped from. I banged my sword on it a few times to make the hole bigger, and then jumped in. The Void Sword illuminated the dark cave as I looked around, and finally the monster came back “Oh, so you’re back? Oh dang, you’ve gotten a lot stronger. Well, I suppose I’ll challenge you. Here goes nothing!” he said, and then thrusted a tentacle at me. It grabbed me, and threw me against the ground. I could sense something. Power, pulsing inside the Void Sword. It had the power of the Teleportation Crystal since I had destroyed it! I used the sword to teleport and dodge all it’s attacks. “Din dåre! Även teleportation kan inte besegra mig!” It said in what sounded like Swedish. “Ahem. Excuse me. I meant to say: You fool! Even teleportation powers cannot defeat me!” It corrected. It thrusted so many tentacles that I lost count as it said, “Oh, I forgot to introduce myself! I am MARGOHMA! (pronounced “mar-goe-muh”) Margohma, the living nightmare!” I swung my sword at the ‘living nightmare’ but I missed. I felt some kind power, living inside me. Suddenly my sword unleashed an extremely bright light, and then I had to close my eyes because it was too bright. When I opened my eyes, everything was back to normal, except there was no trace of Margohma, only a dark blue suit of knight’s armor with a purple gem in the breastplate that was glowing strangely and had green mist around it. I put it on, and suddenly felt even more powerful.

I now have the job of guarding the castle, the good one, and now we all lived happily ever after. “Do you speak German?” The other castle guard said as a joke, reminding me of the evil castle guards who said everything in German.